Give us aid against the enemy, for the help of man is worthless. Sermons
I. HOPE RISING IN THE MIDST OF DESPONDENCY. (Vers. 1-4.) We are apt to fix our mind on our trials. They bulk large. They press us sorely. We dwell upon their grievousness. We shrink from their effects, bewildered and dismayed (ver. 3). Besides, we are too ready to think of our trials as judgments. Our sins make us afraid. God seems to be visiting us in wrath, instead of mercy. But this is our infirmity. As we turn to God with humility, hope rises in our hearts. God is not against us, but for us. If he visits us with trials, it is for our good. His banner over us is still the banner of love. II. FAITH IN GOD'S PROMISES SUSTAINING THE SOUL IN DESPONDENCY. (Vers. 5-8.) The words of Moses, Samuel, and Nathan had sunk deep into the psalmist's heart. He remembered them, and was comforted. How much more reason have we to say, "God hath spoken in his holiness"! We have not only the words, that David had, but many words besides - not only the words of prophets and apostles, but the words of him of whom it was said, "Thou hast the words of eternal life." The Holy Scriptures are rich in promises (2 Peter 1:3, 4; 2 Corinthians 1:20). We may take one and another to the throne of grace, and say, "Remember the word unto thy servant, upon which thou hast caused me to hope. This is my comfort in my affliction" (Psalm 119:49, 50). Two rabbis, it is said, approaching Jerusalem, observed a fox running up the hill of Zion. Rabbi Joshua wept, but Rabbi Eliezer laughed. "Wherefore dost thou weep?" asked Eliezer. "I weep because I see what is written in the Lamentations fulfilled: 'Because of the mountain of Zion, which is desolate, the foxes walk upon it'" (Lamentations 5:18). "And therefore do I laugh," said Eliezer; "for when I see with my own eyes that God has fulfilled his threatenings to the letter, I have thereby a pledge that not one of his promises shall fail, for he is ever more ready to show mercy than judgment." III. PRAYER TO GOD GAINING THE VICTORY OVER DESPONDENCY. (Vers. 9-12.) There are great things promised, but how are they to be performed? If we had to do with man, we might have doubts and fears. But we have to do with God, and he is both able and willing to fulfil his word. Remembering his character and his works, we rise above all desponding and depressing influences. Committing ourselves to the keeping of the Lord of hosts, we go forth to the fight with brave hearts. "Jehovah-Nissi" is our watchword, and we are able to say, "Thanks be unto God, who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ" (l Corinthians 15:57). - W.F.
Give us help from trouble: for vain is the help of man. If a man had a long and perilous journey to take, in which he would be exposed to many difficulties and great dangers, would he not most thankfully receive from any one the kind offer of direction and assistance, that he might perform it with success and security? The life of man is such a journey, during which he is exposed to many difficulties and dangers.I. IN THE WORLD WE MUST EXPECT TRIBULATION. As fallen creatures, we are constantly liable to infirmities, affliction, and disappointment. II. VAIN IS THE HELP OF MAN. Man may not have the ability nor the inclination to help us in our worldly troubles. Man may not feel for our misery, nor be disposed to aid us in our distress. He may promise us his assistance, and yes desert us "in the very time of need." "Vain is the help of man." Man may endeavour to help; but it is so feeble, as to be of no real service. God, and God alone, can remove the burden, or support us under it. III. HOW IS THIS HELP TO BE OBTAINED? By humble, fervent, and believing prayer. "Give us help in trouble, for vain is the help of man." It is freely bestowed in Christ Jesus to all that need it and seek it of God in humble and fervent prayer. (C. Davy.) Homilist. I. A common human CONDITION. "Trouble." He has, almost from birth to death, to "walk in the midst of trouble" — troubles personal and social, material and spiritual — troubles of body, troubles of intellect, troubles of conscience.1. Those that are spiritually pernicious — tending only to intensify the rebellion of the soul, harden the conscience, etc. 2. Those that are spiritually beneficent. To all regenerate and Christly men troubles are morally disciplinary (Hebrews 12:11). II. A common human INSTINCT. "Give us help from trouble." Man in great trouble instinctively cries to the Supreme for help. Even irrational creatures seem to shriek for help in trouble. Tyndall says of the hare, when the greyhound is almost upon her, that she abandons hope through her own efforts, and screams convulsively into space for help. Man's instinct is of a higher kind. The space into which he cries in trial is not empty. He sees a God in it. This instinct is as deep as the soul and as wide as humanity. It is developed by saint, by savage, and by sage. 1. This instinct implies a constitutional, an ineradicable belief in the existence, personality, accessibleness and entreatability of a God. 2. This instinct shows that prayer is not against the laws of nature, but one with it. As sure as the sun will rise, men will pray. III. A common human EXPERIENCE. "Vain is the help of man." 1. He cannot give an effective deliverance from trouble. That which makes anguish is the state of the soul — disordered affections, guilt of conscience, moral regrets, and dark forebodings. Unless these are removed the troubles remain. 2. He cannot give a permanent deliverance from trouble. Whatever alleviation he may afford to the sufferer, it can be only temporary. Let our prayer therefore be, "Give us help from trouble; for vain is the help of man." (Homilist.). Hear my cry, O God; attend unto my prayer. In the first verse it is not the Jew but the man that speaks. The same idea can be found in all languages. When David speaks thus, he speaks for the whole world! There is no doubt the most intense personality in the petition; it is "my" cry, it is "my" prayer. What then? Even when the man individualizes himself most carefully, he does but mingle most familiarly with all other men. This is the voice of an exile — a man far from the city which he loves most; yet even at the extremity of the land he says he will cry unto God. Why not? God can give the exile a home! Wherever God reveals himself in loving pity and all the riches of His grace, the soul may take its rest, knowing that no lion shall be there, neither shall any ravenous beast go up thereon. David cried from the end of the land! We have cried from the same extremity. By processes too subtle for us to comprehend, God has often caused our misfortunes to become our blessings, In the midst of the psalmist's trouble there rises an aspiration — "lead me to the rock that is higher than I. "The" self-helplessness expressed in this prayer moves our entire sympathy. "Lead me" — what a blind man who had wandered from the accustomed path would say; "lead me" — what a lame man would say who had fallen by reason of his great weakness; "lead me" — what a terrified man would say who had to pass along the edge of a bottomless abyss. It is in such extremities that men best know themselves. David wished to be led to the rock; he wished to stand firmly, to stand above the flood-line, to have rest after so great disquietude. Then there is a rock higher than we? We have heard of Jesus Christ by this strange name; we have heard of Him as the Rock of ages; we have heard of Him as the Rock in the wilderness; we have heard of Him as the Stone rejected of the builders but elected of God to the chief place. The aspiration is succeeded by a recollection (ver. 3). History is rightly used when it becomes the guide of hope. The days of a man's life seem to be cut off from each other by the nights which intervene; but they are continuous when viewed from the altitude of Divine providence. Yesterday enriches to-day. All the historic triumphs of the Divine arm stimulate us in the present battle. We may say of God — What Thou hast been, Thou wilt be; because Thou hast inclined Thine ear unto us, therefore will we call upon Thee as long as we live. "I will abide in Thy tabernacle for ever, I will trust in the covert of Thy wings." Here is a beautiful combination — worship and confidence! The relation is not only beautiful, but strictly sequential; for worship is confidence, and confidence is worship. Truly to kneel before God is to express trust in Him, and truly to express trust in Him is to bow down and worship at His footstool. This is the complete idea of worship: not prayer only, not hope only, not adoration only, not a blind dependence only; but all combined, all rounded into one great act of life. "Under the covert of Thy wings" — how tender the figure! The bird spreads her wings over the nest where her young ones lie, and thus gives them warmth, and affords them all the little protection in her power. What a beautiful image of unity, defence, completeness, safety, is so frail a thing as the nest of a bird! Multiply that image by infinitude; carry it far above all the mischances which may befall the little home of the bird, and then see how full of comfort is the idea. We have heard of a "shelter," and a "tower," and a "tabernacle," — words which have much meaning for the heart when its distresses are not to be numbered, and which reach their full explanation only in that great Saving Man who was wounded for our transgressions.(J. Parker, D. D.) Homilist. I. A DEEP SENSE OF ISOLATION. "From the end of the earth will I cry unto Thee." Few feelings are more saddening than the feeling of lonelihood. It hangs like a cold leaden cloud over the heart. In this lonelihood, and far away from the scenes of his home and populations of men, he prays. The Great Father is accessible in all seasons of the soul, and all points of space.II. A FELT NEED FOR DIVINE HELPS. Many things would tend to overwhelm the heart of David with sorrow — the conduct of Absalom his son, the treachery of professed friends, the disorders of his country, and, above all, remorse on account of the many wrong things he had done and which had perhaps brought all these distresses upon him. Under such a load of sadness, he feels that his only hope is in God. The soul in its sorrow requires something outside of itself and greater, and there is a Rock for tempest-tossed souls. III. A YEARNING FOR LOST PRIVILEGES. "I will abide in Thy tabernacle for ever." He was far away from this tabernacle now, — a scene where he had often worshipped and experienced the raptures of religion. Profoundly does he feel the loss, and hence he resolves on his return to abide there, not only to visit it occasionally, but to continue as a resident, "dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of his life." When there, he had felt like the young bird under the wing of its parent, warm, safe, and happy; and this privilege he yearned for again. "I will trust in the covert of Thy wings." It is an old adage, that "the well is not missed until it is dried up." The loss of blessings is evermore the means of deepening our impressions as to their value. IV. AS ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF DIVINE KINDNESS (ver. 5). The "heritage" mentioned is participation in the honours and privileges of the chosen people, and such were indeed great (Romans 9:4, 5). What a heritage! And this David acknowledges as being given to him by God. Whatever privileges we have, personal, social, political, or religious, our "heritage" is the gift of God. V. AN ASSURANCE OF FUTURE PROSPERITY. "Thou wilt prolong the king's life." He seems to have been assured of two things. 1. The lengthening of his rule as a king. "Thou wilt prolong the king's life" — add days to that reign which was nearly brought to an abrupt termination. 2. The continuation of his privileges as a saint. "He shall abide before God for ever." These two things he seems to have been assured of — that he should live for years, and for years to come enjoy the presence of his God. Blessed assurance this! VI. A CRY FOR MORAL EXCELLENCE. "Mercy and truth." These are the cardinal virtues. "Grace and truth came by Jesus Christ." A soul full of benevolence and in harmony with eternal realities. In this all good is comprised. Herein Paradise blooms and blossoms. The profoundest hunger Of all souls should be for these two things, grace and truth. Having these, all else follows. VII. A RESOLUTION TO WORSHIP FOR EVER. Worship is the highest end of being. Religion, or worship, is not the means to an end, it is the grandest end of existence. (Homilist.) People Aram, David, Edomites, Joab, Manasseh, Psalmist, SyriansPlaces JerusalemTopics Adversary, Adversity, Deliverance, Enemy, Foe, Grant, Man's, O, Trouble, Vain, WorthlessOutline 1. David, complaining to God of former judgment4. now upon better hope, prays for deliverance 6. Comforting himself in God's promises, he craves that help whereon he trusts Dictionary of Bible Themes Psalm 60:11Library Moab is My WashpotWhat does Moab represent to you and to me? We are the children of Israel by faith in Christ, and in him we have obtained by covenant a promised land. Our faith may cry, "I will divide Shechem, and mete out the valles of Succoth." All things are ours in Christ Jesus; "Gilead is mine, and Manasseh is mine." Now Moab was outside of Canaan. It was not given to Israel as a possession, but in course of time it was subdued in warfare, and became tributary to the Jewish king. Even thus our faith overcometh … Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 17: 1871 That we must not Believe Everyone, and that we are Prone to Fall in Our Words Dialogue i. --The Immutable. Vehicles of Revelation; Scripture, the Church, Tradition. 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